Play it Cool, Boys
by IMimelda
Summary: McKinley's West Side Story, with Klaine and Warblers and football players and Sugar and Karofsky and such. An alternate version of Out of Our Minds. Just the musical, the special guest stars, and the fun.


Here's the musical! I had to do it. Have I already mentioned I'm insane?

I recommend that you watch this scene from the 1961 movie of West Side Story. It's fun to have this song in your head when you get to that part of the story. (YouTube "West Side Story Cool" if it doesn't work.)

http :/ www . youtube .com/watch?v=xkdP02HKQGc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thanks!

Quick summary of Inside Blaine's Head

The character study that inspired this is long and dense. You can read it at "Out of Our Minds for West Side Story" if you dare. Or you can read this summary: (Or neither)

Blaine was actually quite nervous after he transferred to McKinley. He was alone most of the day, without knowing anyone in his classes or the hallways but knowing they were famous for bullying and that they all knew he was gay. He felt like everyone seemed to look at him in either hate or fear or general hesitance at best.

Sure, he regretted "running" the last time he was in that situation, but it's not running if you find a school where you can actually learn and get into a good college. Learning to stand up to bullies isn't something that needs to be practiced every single moment of every day for years. Practice it once and you're done. He preferred the plentiful opportunities at Dalton.

Still, he felt he could get something out of being at McKinley with Kurt for a year, almost like a Junior Year Abroad. He just hadn't figured out yet exactly what it was he was going to get out of it.

Blaine really did want to play Bernardo. He didn't see himself as boring Tony. He didn't see himself as friendly, reasoned, dapper Tony.

He saw himself as Bernardo, fighting for his people and their right to rule the streets just as much as the Jets even though they're immigrants, mad about being discriminated against and put down, and ready to fight for the people he cares about.

However, Blaine was stuck in his own head, thinking too much, and hiding constantly behind a veneer of confidence, like a dapper-shield.

The only time he felt like himself was when he was performing on stage, or on the stairs, or in the choir room... He felt conflicted about being asked to read for Tony and he didn't want to be in direct personal competition with his boyfriend.

Kurt had his heart set on getting the lead in the musical, even though Blaine tried to convince him that the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts would notice him much more if he stole the show as Riff in West Side Story, since Riff is a character who dances all over the stage in athletic feats of daring, sings more than anyone besides Tony but in a more versatile repertoire than Tony, and is masculine in a way that is so confident that he can be tough and a bad-ass gang leader, and funny and campy all at the same time.

Kurt took a while to realize that Blaine might need some help sharing his feelings, while Blaine worked his way out of his head to connect with people, and he started to allow his friends to see the real him. He saw new challenges and different opportunities than he'd find at Dalton. Brittany helped him see that he needed to open his mind, stop worrying about looking stupid or making mistakes, and actually live instead.

He had fantasies of Kurt as the leader of the Jets played by the members of the football team who rocked as Zombies at that half-time show last year, while he played opposite Kurt's Riff as Bernardo, leading maybe some Warblers as the Sharks because wouldn't _that_ be cool?

He realized that people in his classes might not hate him, they might just hate calculus, and that girl in his English class who was always showing him funny words in her Old English version of the Chaucer they were reading wouldn't be doing that if the whole school was homophobic. He might just be able to make some friends here after all.

* * *

><p>And that brings us to:<p>

The musical!

Let's see what they come up with over there at McKinley.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Play it Cool, Boys<span>**

"Warblers, can we have you over on the right side of the room please?" At Mr. Schuester's direction, the eight Warblers in attendance rose from their chairs and moved easily into dancing positions.

"Football team, can you set up on the left?" Mr. Schue didn't notice the wary looks the few assembled football players gave each other before they began emerging from their chairs, unsure of where exactly to go. At a stern look from Coach Beiste they shuffled to the left of the space and stood around crossing their arms.

Mr. Schuester asked no one in particular, "Where's David Karofsky?"

Tommy Parkman fidgeted and glanced at Azimio, hazarding a response, "He's uhhhh,..."

Crossing from her spot beside Mr. Schue by the piano, Coach Beiste took one of the Warbler's vacated seats. "I told him that if he didn't learn the Jets dances, he couldn't play on the team this year. He said he'd be here."

Emma followed Coach Beiste in the same path and sat next to her, looking like she was getting cozy and anticipating a fun dance rehearsal today.

Speaking up from his wheelchair next to Mr. Schue, Artie remembered, "Oh, Dave let me know he couldn't be here tonight. He said that he had to _work on something mandatory._ I don't... really know what that means..."

Noticing Coach Beiste's scowl, Mr. Schue moved things forward saying, "OK, so we'll catch him up next time."

~.~

A couple of the football players looked a little annoyed that they had to be there if Dave could get away with skipping out on it. The rest of them knew better. Azimio in particular knew exactly where Dave was, and that it was kind of the opposite of skipping practice, in a way.

Rallying the troops, Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together to get everyone focussed. "Alright dancers! First of all, I'd like to thank the Warblers who came out today. I know you don't have a drama club at Dalton, and we'd love to have you in the musical if we can convince you to do it.

Football guys, I want you to know that we appreciate you being here too. I know you didn't choose it, but I think you're gonna have a lot of fun."

He gestured to the football guys to bring it in closer so that everyone formed more of a dance rehearsal formation. "So how I think we'll do this, is we'll have you football guys play the Jets, and you Warbler guys, you'll play the Sharks. Or do you think we should mix it up?"

There was a resounding no, as both groups of boys unanimously agreed that the original plan sounded best.

"You know, we're so used to dancing together already," Jeff offered, "it will give a better look of two different gangs, with their own unique styles."

"OK, let's get started." Mr. Schuester freely used his hands and arms to emphasize his points and moved like a dancer even though all he was doing was telling a story. "So the Jets are a tough gang of street-savvy American boys ruling their neighborhood in New York in the 1950's, and the Sharks are an equally tough gang of Puerto Rican immigrants battling for their own dominion over the neighborhood."

Nick snuck a look over at Jeff as soon as Mr. Schue said "equally tough" and they both grinned brightly at this.

Mr. Schue strode away from the piano and nodded to Brad at the keys as he used his body language to stake his space for dancing. "Jeff's right, they should each have their own style and attitude, but both gangs are going to dance to the same type of choreography, so that's what we're going to start on today." He was quite obviously about to break into a dance as an example. As the opening strains of the West Side Story overture emerged from the piano, he broke out in a jazz-handed crouch. "Get ready to get Fosse, guys!"

The Warblers all raised their eyebrows in understanding and bounced on their heels in anticipation of learning some good Bob Fosse moves.

The football guys all raised their eyebrows to show that none of them knew what the heck Mr. Schue was talking about (what is _getting flossy_?) and leaned back on their heels in fear of the fact that they were about to find out.

~.~

As much as the football guys tried to act like they thought all this was stupid, they kept glancing over at the Warblers and trying not to get caught looking, because some of the moves those guys were doing were more like feats of strength that the football guys would never dare to try. But then again, they kind of wanted to.

The team's Fullback, Tommy Parkman, especially thought that if he could jump that high while spinning like _that_ at the same time, he'd be able to get through any defensive line-up, hell, he'd be able to MAKE his own hole instead of looking for one in the defense.

Jeff kept stealing peaks at the biggest of the guys, and by the end of the session, his dance moves had taken on a lot more of a macho quality. It was as if imitating some of the kind of resistance to "fancy dancing" the football guys showed in their body language and the holding-back lumbering quality that the least-willing jocks had in their attempts to dance with their constant fear of looking girly, actually gave Jeff the kind of inspiration for his Sharks street dance style that perhaps Bob Fosse once had.

Nick watched Jeff. And after he noticed what Jeff was doing, the imitation spread through the Warblers.

As the session wore on, unbeknownst to Mr. Schuester the guys were all starting to pick up more and more from each other, and the two groups were starting to gel, with each group moving more and more like the other group, but still enough different from each other in style that Fosse would be proud. Mr. Schuester was proud, and he could only assume that he had taught them well.

"Wow, you guys are really picking this up!" Mr. Schuester clapped for them as though his audience of one was giving them a standing ovation. Emma and Shannon (which Coast Beiste was insisting that all the drama club kids call her during rehearsals) joined in the clapping. Artie gave out a loud hoot for the guys. Mr. Schue nodded happily. "Good work today, guys. We'll start on some of the fight scenes on Thursday when Riff, Bernardo and Tony are here for that dance rehearsal. Alright?"

The Warblers all responded with enthusiasm and thanked the directors kindly.

The jocks all grumbled and shuffled out, but everyone else in the room could tell that they were actually looking forward to it.

* * *

><p>Tina leaned on Mike's shoulder, slurping up the last of her frozen-coke slushy as her boyfriendpillow sang along with Kurt, Blaine and Rachel in the chairs of the choir room during lunch time.

Mike's voice resounded clearly as Bernardo, singing, "They're gonna get it tonight, The more they turn it on, The harder they'll fall!"

Kurt sang out as Riff, "Well they began it." And Mike answered in turn, "Well they began it." And Kurt finished with "And we're the ones to stop 'em once and for all."

Blaine and Rachel then harmonized together on, "Tonight, tonight, I'll see my love tonight. Tonight there will be no morning star..."

There was something truly cathartic about singing the 'Tonight' Quintet for Kurt, every time he got to interrupt Tony and Maria's sweet love-song parts with Riff's fighting words. "And we're the ones to stop' em once and for all, The Jets are gonna have their way, The Jets are gonna have their day, We're gonna rock it TONIGHT!" It was pretty good motivation.

Toward the end of the song, Brittany skipped into the choir room eating an apple and smiling at everyone.

Blaine greeted her excitedly. "Graziella, would you like to pretend to be Anita for a minute so you can sing her part in the quintet with us?"

"Who me? A Jet girl? Pretend to be the girlfriend of the leader of the Sharks? Are you kidding me? I'm Graziella; I wouldn't deign to pretend to be _Anita_!"

"That won't be necessary!" Sugar Matta entered the room as though a star had suddenly arrived at the scene, and threw her arms out to announce her presence. "Never fear, ANITA IS HERE!"

They all rolled their eyes except for Brittany, who beamed a smile out at her and clapped for Sugar's entrance.

Miss Shelby had definitely worked her vocal training magic on the girl, and had whipped Sugar into a pretty decent singer.

Tina and Santana both still couldn't believe that she had been given the part of Anita, but in the end everyone could see that her acting style was perfect for Anita, and her voice was the perfect range for the role. The clincher was that she had absolutely no inhibitions about acting through song, and doing everything big. Now if she could only learn and remember her lines any time soon, she could bring every Anita-like part of herself out every moment she was on stage.

Grabbing Mike's hands, she pulled him out of his chair and into the middle of the room, and started right in on her part. Only, it was from an entirely different scene. "Once an immigrant, ALWAYS an immigrant!"

Mike instantly obliged with his Bernardo response, "Hey look! Instead of a shampoo, she's been brainwashed!" and swept her into a spin. Of course she promptly fell over as usual, but Mike was quick to swing her back into position in time for her to start in on her song.

"Puerto Rico, My heart's devotion... Let it sink back in the ocean!"

Mike naturally expressed his character through dance as Sugar strutted about and sang at him.

"Always the hurricanes blowing, Always the population growing, And the money owing, And the sunlight streaming, And the natives steaming! ...I like the island Manhattan! Smoke on your pipe and put that in!"

Rachel, Britt and Tina couldn't help it, and they jumped up to join in the song as Anita's friends. Just like that, they became Sharks girls instead of Maria, Graziella and Velma, and sang along with Sugar, "I like to be in America, OK by me in America, Everything free in America," with Mike coming in just at the right times with his responses, such as that first one, "For a small fee in America!"

Mike danced circles around the girls, and they tried to dance just enough to have fun but staying close enough to Sugar to make sure that she didn't get carried away and fall over or crash into things or people as she tends to do at least five times in every practice. And that's with the choreography, and not all freestyle like Mike was doing around them. It's safest to encourage Sugar to watch and admire and just sway for now, in the interest of everyone else's noses, backs-of-heads, and toes.

~.~

The toes of Kurt and Blaine were the only parts that were in any danger as they watched from their seats and laughed at their friends' antics. They saw no need to play the Sharks boys who backed up Bernardo in his responses to the girls. Mike seemed to be able to handle all of them on his own just fine.

Besides, they had enough to handle on their own, while they had a moment before everyone else arrived and drama class began. There was the collar of Blaine's shirt for Kurt to handle... it had to be straightened, of course... even though it was already perfectly fine, but Blaine didn't mind one bit having Kurt's fingers tracing along his collar and lingering on the back of his neck and caressing his hair line.

That led to the handling of the back of Blaine's hair, because honestly what if he hadn't bothered to check the back of his head in the mirror after gym class? Well it felt perfectly OK once Kurt checked it, but he seemed to decide that it should be checked a few more times to be sure.

Blaine figured he should return the favor and handle the issue of Kurt's jaw, and the way it tapered down to his neck, and he only wanted to run his fingers along all this to help Kurt be sure that he had done a thorough enough job shaving that morning, just to help out you know, not that Kurt shaves all the way across his neck to his shoulder, but it was in fact perfectly smooth there too, Blaine made sure to note, and everything seemed fine all the way down to his boyfriend's clavicle as well, and yup, no razor stubble along his throat, even along his Adam's apple, and under the chin was handled perfectly well as far as Blaine found out here, and oh... yeah... his lips probably need a bit of an inspection... now how should that be handled? Run a finger along the bottom lip? The top lip? They seem fine. But maybe they just need a closer inspection.

It seemed to Blaine that the only way to be sure that those lips were in perfect condition was to take them for a little spin along with his. Yeah. He found them to be in top form. Perfectly awesome, agile lips in tip-top shape. Oh wow, and Blaine might have also suddenly realized that the tongue was doing just fine at that moment as well.

"There's no kissing in the choir room, guys!"

Mr. Schuester. Well, he obviously didn't realize how important it is to make sure that your boyfriend is all warmed up before a dance rehearsal. What can you do with grown-ups sometimes!

Kurt and Blaine shrugged their shoulders and handled the latest situation of each other's now-crooked collars and such, and chuckled as Mike spun himself stealthily behind Mr. Schue as the teacher was turning to grab some sheet music, whipped Tina up into his arms as quick as a flash, smacked a big slobbery kiss to her lips and some along her neck like a hyper puppy-dog while she threw her head back and laughed, and he had her expertly placed right back in her chair by the time Mr. Schue turned back around, to see Mike with his hands clasped behind his back, bouncing on his feet and titling his head in interest for whatever it was Mr. Schue had in mind to say to the group.

"You can take a seat, Mike. We won't be starting off with choreography today. I think we'll start by going over the pre-rumble 'Tonight Quintet' with Anita, Bernardo, Tony, Maria and Riff, so we can get those solo parts down for you before you add in the back-up with the Jets and the Sharks at your rehearsal tomorrow. What do you guys think?"

They all looked at each other and started laughing. Except for Sugar, who had no idea that was the exact song they had been going over before she had arrived.

Brittany spoke up before Sugar could wonder very long though. "I think they need lots of help with that song, Mr. Schue. I don't think it's a mash-up with 'America' in the show, but that's how they do it. Maybe it's because there isn't enough dancing in 'Tonight,' so they wanted to add in another song to it that's more danceable. Or maybe there wasn't enough kissing between Tony and Riff in the first song for them. Maybe we could add that in!"

Mr. Schue seemed to ponder several different tracks he could take in responding to that, and then settled on, "I like your artistic initiative, Brittany, that's the kind of outside-the-box thinking that can take a great show and make it your own, but why don't we stick with the script for now, before we start adding in our own twists?"

Shelby arrived in the choir room and took a seat at the piano. She was the co-teacher and the main force behind the introduction of this semester's new drama class, much to Sue Sylvester's furious chagrin.

"OK. But Mr. Schue? Is it alright if I kiss Consuelo?" Mr. Schue didn't even bother trying to answer Shelby's look of perplexed questioning at this.

He decided to address Brittany in a way that would settle the matter fastest. "Well, Graziella and Consuelo never talk to each other in the musical, Brittany."

"Oh, I don't mean on stage."

The confused look on Mr. Schue's face made Mike speak up to help out. "She likes to stay in character as much as possible, Mr. Schue. It helps her remember her lines."

"Oh, well in that case... Graziella, you can kiss Consuelo as much as you like, as long as it's not while you're in New York in the 1950's. Does that sound fair?"

"Yeah, that's good. Hey, speaking about kissing, I think Tony and Riff should kiss after they talk about the dance, before Tony sings 'Something's Coming.' Wouldn't that be cool?"

Everyone squinted their eyes at her, unable to even follow her logic there, except for Mike, who nodded along agreeably.

Kurt couldn't stop his face from falling down into his palm, and Tina responded to Sugar's questioning look with a shake of the head that indicated _don't even bother asking, _just as the rest of the class started to arrive.

* * *

><p>Blaine assured Kurt, "You definitely look like Riff when you do this number, Kurt, I don't know why you object to 'Stay Cool, Boys' so much."<p>

"It's just 'Cool' actually. Whatever. It doesn't feel like it fits Riff. I don't know. I guess I'm so used to the film version, where someone else sings it in the second half instead. After I'm dead!"

Sugar dragged her eyes away from her game of Plants vs Zombies to exclaim to Kurt, "Wow, you _really_ don't like doing this song!"

"Well, listen," Blaine started, taking Kurt's shoulder in his hand, "you don't have to be born singing every song perfectly for the character. That's what acting class is for, and that's what collaborative rehearsals are about, and we have until Spring to pull the show together the way we want it! When is the curtain, it's in April, right?"

With a sudden chuckle, Sugar piped up, saying to Blaine, "Don't you mean _'wan that Aprille with its shoures soote_' we'll put on a musical? Or should that be _mousikkalle_?"

Blaine almost doubled over in laughter, "We'll do the musical after '_the droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote'!"_

Giggles did nothing to stop Sugar's recitation,_"And bathed every veyne in swich licour, of which vertu engendred is the floure!"_

"Sugar, you have to find your copy of _The Caterbury Tales. _The class copy you keep borrowing is killing both of us!"

"And miss out on all this? I'll stick with the Middle English version. It feels like being able to decipher the easiest foreign language ever, it makes me feel smart!"

"It makes us crack up in class too much, we're gonna flunk if you don't stop distracting me with your '_slepen al the nyght_' and '_sondry londes_' and '_smale foweles_' whenever we're supposed to be following along with what everyone's reading aloud!"

"You're my _smale fowele_, Blaine!"

"You're _straunge strondes_ now and forever, Sugar."

"I hate all the stupid reading aloud in that class. Everyone is so nasally when they read. It's annoying!"

Meanwhile, Kurt and Nick were playing around at the piano, Nick acting as a Jet for the moment to help Kurt get his "cool" on.

"Nick, it's not that I don't see that it can be cool-sounding, and I admit it is kind of cool the way you do it. I just don't want to! I don't like it for my Riff, that's all."

"Hey Tommy,..." Blaine nudged Parkman to encourage him to go over there and sing with them. After all, he _was_ a Jet, and he didn't come to the choir room just to hang out with Blaine (and keep trying to get him to try out for the football team like he and Anderson have been doing for over a week now), he actually did want to get some extra practice in. His girlfriend kept laughing about him practicing the songs all off-key, and he really wanted to surprise her with being awesome at singing, maybe even he'd sing her a song sometime or something. As long as nobody ever found out that he did that for her.

As Parkman walked up, Kurt addressed him. "What do you think of it? I hate the way I sound on the 'boy' notes. Listen: 'Boy-oy, boy-oy, crazy boy!' It doesn't sound cool... it only sounds stupid. 'Get cooley-cool, boy!' Seriously. I feel like I'm rolling along perfectly in-character as Riff, singing and dancing the way he would, looking tough and cool and all that Riff is, and then all of a sudden I'm singing 'get cooley-cool, boy' and the character falls out of my head."

"I bet once all the Jets are singing back at you and we carty-ograph the dance or whatever, you'll get the tone of it down." Parkman couldn't help also adding, "Besides, I can't even get the notes right! Everyone will be looking at me wondering what's wrong with me, and then you'll look totally cool in comparison."

"Oh come on, we'll both be fabulous by April. I just kind of wish we could do it the way they do it in the movie instead."

Blaine reminded him, "We'd have to get someone to play Ice, then, to come in and take over as leader of the Jets with that number if we do it the way it is in the movie."

Sugar brightened up at that idea. "It's really dramatic when they do that in the movie!"

"Well it's just as good the original way," Blaine stated with conviction, "in the first act, where it's written, with Riff doing it! And we're not filming a movie, we're doing the actual musical."

Kurt, usually a purist as well, bowed his head but lifted it again with fresh passion for his progressive approach to theatre. "Well, I think it would be a perfect opportunity for someone who didn't get a part to be able to suddenly take the stage at the end of the musical and kick ass with this one number. How cool would that be? No matter how amazingly I could do it, I think it would be fantastic if someone else did it!"

The sound of the door swinging open made them all look up.

"Yo, Parkman, practice is starting. You're still on the football team, aren't you?"

"Hey, Karofsky." Blaine tried to sound perfectly friendly and welcoming, but he always had a little edge to his voice he couldn't mask when he spoke with Karofsky. That slam against the wire-fence wall of the outdoor stairwell the day they "met" always stuck with him, as well as the first moment he realized Kurt was crying at that table at Dalton with David and Wes, and knowing now who was the cause of those tears back then.

Kurt had become far more forgiving, friendly and natural around Dave than Blaine was capable of, since last year. "What's up Dave? Why haven't you been at rehearsals?"

"I've been... busy." Dave said defensively.

Just as defensively, Blaine retorted, "Too busy to help out your football team?"

Dave wasn't intimidated. "I've been... helping them. In my own way."

"What does that even mean?" Blaine sat back down next to Sugar and refused to look at Karofsky.

Kurt took a somewhat kinder approach. "Dave, they're talking about getting someone else to do your Jets part since you haven't been at rehearsals, which means Coach Beiste will have to kick you off the football team, too."

Dave simply asked, "You're gonna be at the next rehearsal?"

Kurt answered, "Of course we will. Will _you_?"

"Maybe." With that, Dave pushed past the door and sauntered down the hallway.

Tommy shrugged in half-apology for Dave, and followed him out to head to football practice.

Kurt cast a side-long glance at Blaine as if to say "what was _that_?" Blaine answered with a shake of the head and a face that had "I have no idea" written all over it.

* * *

><p>It was more than 20 minutes into rehearsal and Coach Beiste was starting to <em>really<em> get agitated.

Finally, the choir room door opened and most of the football Jets filtered in.

"Well it's about time my football team showed up! Where have you guys been?"

Azimio and a couple of the other guys just shrugged at their coach, and glanced over at Parkman.

Parkman looked apologetically over at Blaine and Kurt, and told the assembled cast, "We've been working tonight on a bit of a... surprise." He raised his eyebrows to Blaine, as if asking for forgiveness for not letting him in on this earlier. "It's kind of like a try out. Or I mean, like, an audition." He stepped aside, and looked away from Blaine and Kurt, and toward the door.

All around Parkman, the football guys started doing their best to look like dancers pretending to fight amongst themselves, squabbling and shouting out things like "We gotta GET 'em!"

Karofsky slammed the choir room door open, and walked right up to Parkman. They walked around each other in a circle, staring each other down.

Then Karofsky turned to the rest of the football guys, the Jets, who had all assembled around the two during their stand-off. "You are cutting a hole in yourselves for them to stick in a red-hot umbrella!"

All the Jets backed up away from him, until they were all flanking the two guys, and cheating a bit to face their stunned audience assembled on the chairs.

"Man, you wanna get past the cops when they start askin' about tonight?" Karofsky addressed the guys on his Left and then turned to the guys on his Right. "You play it cool."

"You wanna live in this lousy world?" He then faced Parkman again, and intimidated him enough to back up and join the Jets to his Left. "Play it cool."

At that, Parkman (obviously chosen by the football guys to play the part of Action) stepped out toward him again in frustration, shouting "I wanna get even!"

Karofsky's (well... Ice's) instant shout back at him of "Get cool!" caused him to back off into the group again.

The football guy obviously doing A-Rab shouted out with a jump, "I wanna BUST!"

"Bust cool!" With that, Ice effectively defused A-Rab too.

The football guy playing Baby John broke from his flank and started running toward the door, yelling "I wanna GO!"

Ice caught his arm and told him sternly, "Then go COOL!"

Brad hit "play" on the stereo in the corner. All of the cast were glued to their chairs, in shock, as Karofsky started to sing. "Boy, boy, crazy boy. Get cool, boy."

He let go of Baby John and looked at him like he was still a flight-risk, singing, "Got a rocket, In your pocket," and grabbed his arm again to lead him back to the Jets, "Keep cool-ey cool, boy!"

All the Jets began to snap their fingers to the beat and move toward each other, forming into a semi-circle, while Ice kept singing, "Don't get hot, cuz man you've got some high times ahead. Take it slow, and daddy-o, You can live it up and die in bed."

"Boy, Boy, Crazy Boy. Stay Loose, Boy!" Not a single non-Jet in that room could believe what they were seeing, as Karofsky danced like a smooth pro who'd been jazz dancing all over the Broadway stage since the hey-day of Fosse.

"Breeze it, buzz it, Easy does it. Turn off the juice, boy!" Even with his fancy footwork and smooth jazz-dancing spins and poses and perfect head placement and dance posture, he managed to look like a bad-ass modern-movie gang member. He looked like something out of a Martin Scorsese movie, only with dancing and singing. Tough-style dancing and singing somehow. And like, GOOD singing. When did he learn to sing like that?

All the Jets seemed to be much better dancers than ever before as they got completely into the acting in reaction to Karofsky's Ice.

Ice kept on motivating them, "Go man, go. But not like a yo-yo schoolboy! Just play it cool, boy. Real cool."

Ice joined the Jets in snapping fingers, now in syncopation with the music. Each guy in turn went into a solo dance, just one move each, things they picked up from watching Warblers now and again doing freestyle crazy stuff. They couldn't do much yet since they hadn't been to more than a handful of dance rehearsals, but their shouts of "GO" and "CRAZY" and "COOL" and "POW" at the right parts in the score were so effective that the whole thing was the perfect back-up to Karofsky's stunning sudden prowess as a dancer and a singer.

They all stalked out through the choir room door snapping their fingers on their way to go find the Sharks, and the room erupted into applause.

People were on their feet cheering, and Shannon (Beiste) wiped a tear from under one of her eyes saying "That's my boys!"

Blaine turned to whisper to his boyfriend, who was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing up and down in his seat whistling in praise of Dave's performance, "Well, I guess you're off the hook for that number _now_, huh, Riff?"

And Graziella clapped her hands excitedly, no longer for the performance, but beaming over at those two, as she watched Riff tackle Tony, the rule of "no kissing in the choir room" be damned.

* * *

><p><strong>So when I checked the story Out of Our Minds it had over 500 hits to the first chapter and something like 74 to the second chapter. I figure I scared people away with Blaine's dense thoughts in that chapter! One look and they ran screaming. So, I decided to post just the musical in an updated form. Let me know your thoughts! Was the other one boring or too wordy or did people just not agree with what Blaine would be thinking? Hmmmm... or was I just babbling? <strong>

**And what do think of Dave as an emerging musical theatre enthusiast?**

**Happy Glee Day tomorrow! I'm more than excited.**


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